The Shrink in the Ego
by GCatsPjs
Summary: Brennan offers Sweets an attitude adjustment.  Oneshot?  Right, what was I thinking?
1. The Straw

She twisted the ring on her finger again and again as she sat beside her partner on the small loveseat in the psychologist's office. Doctor Lance Sweets was on one of his many tangents about sharing feelings, or trusting in one another, or whatnot, and Brennan just bided her time until the time came when they could return to their 'normal lives' of crime solving. She stared at her long finger as her finger twirled her ring, her thoughts on going back to the lab, her mind's focus on the body that lay waiting for her on the platform.

She could see her partner's leg bouncing up and down slightly out of the corner of her eye, and could tell that he simply wanted to tell the psychologist that they had better things to do, and was very obviously keeping his mouth shut. It had only been a week since Vincent Nigel-Murray had been killed, and though Doctor Sweets' rants had become quite redundant, the meetings were still mandatory after a tragic event, and they were being forced to sit through them.

"Doctor Brennan?" Sweets' voice wedged its way into her mind, and she looked up distractedly. "Doctor Brennan, are you even listening to me?" He asked. His forehead was knitted, and he had that look on his face that he'd get when he spoke to her. It was a mix between someone holding in gas, and a chastising parent, and it always made her feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, Bones, are you okay?" Her partner asked, catching her eyes for a moment, he touched her hand as she realized she had rubbed her finger raw beneath her ring.

She looked her partner in the eyes for a moment and couldn't respond immediately, the intensity of his gaze was not surprising, but she couldn't seem to force the words from her lips. "Bones?"

"I should go." She whispered, embarrassed that she was going to now retreat, but finding no other alternative. "You understand, right?" She said directly to Booth, offering no explanation to Doctor Sweets. She stood up and gathered her purse,

"Doctor Brennan, I really don't think you should just get up in the middle of a session, we were discussing…"

She looked to him and her mouth opened slightly. "I don't care." She stated firmly. "I don't… care what we were discussing, because I wasn't listening. I have other pressing matters to attend to, and…"

"Doctor Brennan." Sweets stated firmly, as if he were shouting at a child to sit down and be silent.

"Hey, hey, hey…" Booth said, starting to sit up, he was stopped by Brennan's hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Booth. I can handle this." She said, turning around, she eyed the doctor, who remained in his chair. She remained standing over the psychologist, and looked down at him as he stared up at her. "Why don't you ever call me by my first name?" She asked in a tone that conveyed absolute no humor.

"Excuse me?" He asked, a chuckle on the edge of his lips, the smile on his face bordered on sarcastic and she straightened her posture slightly.

"You never call me by my first name." She repeated. "You never even call me simply by my last name as you often do with Agent Booth. You call me 'Doctor Brennan', and it never wavers."

"I am just being respectful." He replied, allowing his voice to become a bit defensive.

"So, when you call Angela by her first name, or Hodgins or Booth by their last name, you're being disrespectful." She nodded her head. "I understand."

"No." He shook his head, straightening in the chair. "No, that's not what I meant at all." He said, looking up at her. "Doctor Brennan, what is all of this about?"

"Doctor Sweets, I don't believe that you and I are compatible." She said, sensing her partner's eyes on her, she turned to face his surprised expression. "I don't think that you're compatible for either one of us."

"Doctor Brennan, I think we just need to calm down, and look at this calmly and rationally."

"No." She replied stubbornly. "There is nothing to discuss." She replied. "We came to you originally because the FBI thought that there was an issue to be dealt with between Booth and I regarding my father's arrest. That issue has long since been resolved, Doctor Sweets. I think it's time for Booth and I to move on."

"There are other issues, Doctor Brennan." Sweets said, trying to remain calm despite the rising panic in his chest. He was very quickly losing control over this session, and he needed to get that control back. "Please have a seat."

"No." She stated. "I don't think that I will have a seat. I have wasted enough of my valuable time sitting beside my partner, not working on our partnership. Instead, we've been victim to your lectures, your experiments, your snide attitude and assumptions." She straightened, looking to Booth for support. Her partner's eyes were on the psychologist, and he looked up at Brennan with an encouraging nod. Brennan cleared her throat. "The work that Booth and I do together is built on a level of trust that you will never understand. There are times when I am surprised at the lengths I am willing to go to ensure his safety, and the fear that I feel each and every day that something horrible will go wrong. I trust him implicitly. I know that he knows how to do his job, and he allows me to do mine. We do not stand in one another's way, and we don't constantly vie for the spotlight, as you seem to do." She stated, feeling her partner's hand touching hers, she turned sharply, and he was standing beside her. "Booth, I'm…" She stopped.

"I'm not stopping you." He whispered, keeping his hand in hers, she turned toward the doctor, feeling his fingertips kneading hers.

"I understand that I… don't always agree with your methods of doing things, I don't… adhere to your set of rules."

"You hate psychology, Doctor Brennan. You have always disparaged my chosen field, and belittled my work."

Brennan straightened with renewed ire for the psychologist. "You understand, Doctor Sweets, that Booth and I… we don't have the same belief systems. You understand, that I prefer science to my gut, correct?" She asked, looking him in the eyes, she received no reply. "Is that correct."

"Yes, but I don't understand how…"

"The point I am making Doctor Sweets, is that you've lost faith in me. You've lost all faith in who I am, who I have become. You've lost faith in me, and because of that, I don't believe that it would be fair to waste our time participating in these sessions. There was a time when I was sure that you respected me, Doctor Sweets, but recently, there are far too many examples to the contrary." She said, slipping her hand from her partner's, she was sure she had the strength to finish this conversation on her own.

"Doctor Brennan, I don't think you understand…." He said, finally standing up.

"Stop." She said, holding her hand out for emphasis. She watched him flail for a moment, trying to find his words. "Just, stop."

"Doctor Brennan, you've always trashed my profession. You've always been disrespectful to me, to what I do, to what I've worked so hard for. I think I have a right to have an opinion of your work as well. I have the right to have an opinion of your attitude, and your treatment toward others. I respect what you do for this agency, I respect what you do for the greater good of our society."

"But you believe that I am a mere robot amongst humans." She stated bluntly. "You feel that I am cold, closed off and bitter. You have absolutely no faith in my judgment, my beliefs, or my own feelings. You call me 'Doctor' Brennan and rationalize to me that you're using it in a professional sense, when all I hear from the word is mockery. You claim to be my friend, you claim to care about my feelings, yet you send Booth and I in opposite directions as if you can't stand to see either of us standing on our own two feet. We were sent to you as partners to find resolution for our differences, and somehow you only managed to make it worse." She said, glancing to Booth. She could see the warmth in his eyes, the support for her cause, and she continued. " When we finally stepped back from your threats of separation, Doctor Sweets... That's when we found our way. You have been nothing but an impedance in our personal endeavors, and though I respect your professional opinion, and your profiling abilities, and I understand that Booth has a great deal of respect for you, I can honestly say that I have absolutely no respect for you as a friend."

"You'd prefer it if I called you Temperance?"

"I'd prefer it if you'd listen to what I am saying, Doctor Sweets." She said. "I'm done." She said, straightening her posture. "There was a time when I was close minded, and built walls around myself for protection. That time has passed, and I have moved on. You have obviously stayed in the same place. So what I am saying... Doctor Sweets." She said, clearing her throat. "I think it's about time you grew up." She said, ensuring that her pointed glare reached the psychologist, before she turned on her heel, and walked triumphantly out the door.

Sweets stood with his jaw slightly agape, his eyes on the door as it slammed firmly behind Brennan.

"Well." Booth said, nodding toward the door as Sweets looked to him. "I should probably go." He replied, taking a step backwards toward the door.

"Booth."

"Sorry, Sweets. You're the one that built the house of cards. It's not my fault you messed with the wrong tornado." He said, giving Sweets a half apologetic glance. "I'm always going to take her side, man. Always." Booth said, as he turned toward the door and picked up his step, closing the door firmly behind him, as he left Sweets speechless in their absence.


	2. Don't Look Back In Anger

**A/N: Alright, so i considered keeping this story as a oneshot... and if you preferred it as a oneshot, please read no further... But if you want to continue, please do. There are always more stories to be told, and more words to be written... and I hope you enjoy these words that I have written. This update is dedicated to my socially challenged pet elephant Sid. LOVE YA SID!**

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><p>Booth reached the SUV several moments after his partner had, and found her pacing back and forth behind the vehicle. Her steps were hard and purposeful against the concrete surface, and the rhythmic clacking was keeping in time with her breathing. Booth pushed the keyless entry button on his keychain, eliciting a somber beep from the vehicle, and her head rose to look in his direction.<p>

She stopped her pacing, and he could see from the look in her eyes that she wasn't angry any longer, but instead appeared to gaze back at him with red rimmed eyes. "I'm sorry." She said, watching her partner approach her much quicker after their eyes met. "I… didn't mean to embarrass you like that."

"What?" Booth asked, stepping closer to her, he put his hands on her shoulders as she waffled with her eye contact, looking everywhere but in his eyes. "What do you mean embarrass me? Bones, you did what you had to do. You gave him a piece of your mind! He's been asking for that for months!" He exclaimed.

"I know, but I think I may have hurt his feelings." She said, sucking in a deep breath. She gritted her teeth as she fought to remain in control. "I have just… I've been trying very hard to remain calm about all of the changes, about… us, about Vincent's death. I can't keep these feelings bottled up anymore, I can't just… I can't share my thoughts and emotions with someone who has no care for my personal wellbeing." She said quickly.

"Hey, hey." He said, tilting his head to look into her eyes, she continued to try to avoid eye contact. "Sweets cares, Bones. He cares about you."

"Then why has he been so… uncaring lately? Why has he denied me the respect that I have earned?" She asked, her anger rising once again, though when directed toward Booth, there was a marked decline in fury. She simply wanted an answer. "Why has he lost his faith in me? What did I do?"

Booth didn't want to say it, but knew she respected his opinion. "You probably should have asked him that before you sucker punched him in his office back there."

She looked slightly taken aback, but not surprised by his answer. "It was a visceral reaction, Booth. I felt as if I were being scolded. Sweets has come to some misguided conclusion that leads him to believe that when we sit on the couch in his office, that we are destined to reveal all of our darkest secrets to him. It makes me uncomfortable. You told me a very long time ago, Booth. If you want to learn more about someone, then you have to offer up a piece of yourself. I don't believe that Doctor Sweets adheres to that philosophy."

Booth nodded, unsure of what to say to her conclusion, he couldn't think of anything more to say on the matter. While he did feel bad that his partner had hurt the psychologist's feelings, he didn't think that it would be in his best interest to argue with her about it. "You want to get back to the lab?"

"Yes, please." She replied, turning toward the door of the SUV, he pressed the keyless entry button again, just as she pulled on the handle. He paused for a moment and watched her climb into the passenger seat, and with a flip of his keys, he walked thoughtfully around to the driver's side.

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><p>The afternoon had whittled away into evening, and examinations and analysis had dwindled down to paperwork. Brennan sat peacefully at her desk waiting for her dinner companion to arrive to drag her from her self imposed prison of paper. She signed another document when she heard the sliding glass doors of the lab slide open, then closed. When Booth didn't appear in her office in a moment or two, she just expected that it was one of the security guards walking through the museum on their rounds.<p>

She kept her focus on the documents before her, and didn't even notice the form of the person standing in her doorway. She startled at the knock, a gasp escaping her lips as she focused on the face of her visitor. "Doctor Sweets?" Brennan gasped slightly, surprised to see him standing there.

"Doctor Brennan." He said, his feet still on the other side of the threshold, it appeared to her that he was struggling with his decision of coming to the office, and was still unsure if this was a good idea.

"Please, come inside." She said politely, nodding toward the chair across from her. "Have a seat if you'd like."

"Doctor Brennan, I… don't need to sit down." He stopped as he took a step inside, but made no move for the chair. "I am sorry about this afternoon." He said sincerely, his eyes were directly on hers, and he seemed to be lingering in the doorway.

"There is no need to apologize, Doctor Sweets." She replied. "I will admit that I may have overstepped my bounds there, and may have come across as out of line with my attitude." The pause after her statement lingered in the air, and it seemed as though neither wanted to begin the conversation. "Was that all?" She asked, noting that he eyed her chair and then looked back at her. "Doctor Sweets?" She asked.

"Yes." He paused, as if losing his nerve, his foot lingered a bit off the floor as if it were trying to decide for him whether or not to step toward her, or out the door. "I think so, I just wanted to apologize." He said, starting to turn. "That was all."

"I'm not sure what you're apologizing for." She replied, stopping him in his tracks, she looked up at him and crossed her arms on her desk. She looked up and he turned around to face her. "Do you care to explain?"

"I think it's implied in what happened earlier today in my office." He shrugged. "You know what I'm apologizing for. Making you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry."

"Your apology doesn't sound sincere." She said, narrowing her eyes, he gave her an incredulous look.

"Well, what more do you want from me?" He snapped, his brow suddenly furrowed with anger.

"There's no need to snap at me, Doctor Sweets." She replied, getting to her feet to place herself on a level playing field. "I told you that there was no need for an apology. If there is something more you'd like to discuss though, I am more than willing to listen.

He wasn't sure what to say about her response, and the pause he made was very pronounced. She could see that he was thinking about it, considering her offer. "You don't have the time, Doctor Brennan." He replied, his voice was low and dismissive, and he glanced to the door.

"I have more than enough time, Doctor Sweets." She replied quickly. "Please sit down?"

"Doctor Brennan, I don't… It is inappropriate for me to discuss personal issues with a patient."

"Unless you have forgotten, I'm no longer your patient. Besides, Doctor Sweets. You've been trying for years to pry into my life by asking overly personal questions. Why shouldn't I give you the same courtesy? Have a seat." She said again.

She walked around her couch and nodded toward the couch, watching him pause for a moment as he considered. He wasn't surprised by her kindness, but was surprised that she seemed to be holding no ill feelings toward him regarding their earlier confrontation in his office. He reluctantly turned and sank down in the couch, watching as she sat in the chair across from him.

"I'm not going to pry into your life, Doctor Sweets. That's not my job."

"Then why am I sitting here?"

"I don't know." She replied. "If you didn't want to be here, you'd have left by now."

"I really should go." He said, starting to stand up, and she remained sitting, watching him for a moment.

"I'm not a robot, Doctor Sweets." She said bluntly, catching movement outside of her office, she knew that Booth had arrived to pick her up, but was hovering in the lab. She stood up and walked toward the door, poking her head out to see her partner wandering near the platform, she caught his eye.

"Are you guys alright?" He whispered.

"We're fine." She said, watching him glance toward her office. "I'll meet you at the diner."

"Are you sure?"

"Go." She said, offering him a grateful smile. "I'm alright." She said.

"But will he be alright?" Booth asked, nodding toward the office.

"Goodbye, Booth." She said, a humored smile on her lips while she turned back into her office, she closed the door behind her, and caught the psychologist's eye. "Where were we?"

The fact that she had turned her partner away surprised Sweets. Typically they were more than willing to tag team him, and work together on being the most frustrating non-couple the planet had ever seen. But she had turned her partner away to talk to him, and he was willing to give her credit for that. "You're not a robot, Doctor Brennan." He said to her, watching her nod as she stepped toward her chair, she sat down across from Sweets. "I don't think of you as someone who has no feelings. You're a very complex person.."

"Then you do understand that I am capable of personal growth?"

"Of course, we all are."

"Are you?"

"Excuse me?" He asked, looking across at Brennan as if he had been mortally wounded, his eyebrow rose as he shifted in his seat.

"Are you capable of personal growth, Doctor Sweets?" She asked. His scoff was almost comical. Over exaggerated and loud, his mouth opened and closed like a fish fighting for air on land. "It's just you and me, I assure you that this is a private conversation."

"Doctor Brennan..." He said, trying to stop the line of inquiry he could feel coming. "I'm sure that you have other things to do, you don't have time to..."

"I just sent away my dinner date, Doctor Sweets. I have time for this conversation. You came here for more than just an apology, and I want to know what that is. You always inject your personal preferences and thoughts into our professional lives, let's inject a little bit of psychology into this conversation."

Sweets watched her warily. Her tone wasn't mocking, but he couldn't tell if she was being as sincere as he had sensed she was being. It seemed odd to be looking across at Doctor Brennan, and not be in the middle of a case, or sitting in his own office. The fact that Booth wasn't there was also an odd addition to the differences that had begun the mixed feelings he had about being here. "You understand that I respect your work, Doctor Brennan."

"Yes." She replied, stopping herself from saying anything further, she was going to let him speak.

"I do respect your work." he repeated, tipping his head to look into her eyes, he almost looked like he was in pain. She realized that he wanted her to say something, but she wasn't sure what it was he wanted, so she remained quiet, and his temper seemed to flare a bit. "Doctor Brennan, why don't you like psychology?"

"Why is it important that I like psychology?" She asked. "Why is it so important to you that I believe in it? We're having a conversation about you, Doctor Sweets, not about our differences."

"You can be very frustrating sometimes, and it is just something that I don't understand about you.."

"There are a lot of things we don't know about one another, Doctor Sweets, and just because I don't always share them, that doesn't make me a cold person." She said, her voice was soft, inviting him to discuss it further.

He cleared his throat, and looked at her with a concentrated glance. He was obviously trying to find the words to express his thoughts, but was finding it difficult. "I have never called you cold, Doctor Brennan."

"It has been implied, Doctor Sweets." She paused when he had no response, but continued instead of allowing the conversation to take an awkward turn. "I think that you and I have a lot in common, Doctor Sweets, our passion for our careers, and we are both very intelligent people. However, that may be one of the many reasons that we are not compatible." She said clearly, catching the surprise in his eyes. "For the most part, we're compatible in a professional sense, of course. Your use of psychology along with Booth's ability to read people is essential to capturing the people that we deal with. However, you always take things a step further. I personally never liked psychology, for a vast number of reasons." She replied pointedly. "You seem to be unable to turn off that aspect of your personality, and I believe that it's one of the things that makes us incompatible."

"What are you saying?"

"You like to stick your nose in other people's business, Doctor Sweets. But I can't understand why you fail to see what's going on right in front of your face." She said. Her tone was serious and stern, and almost to a point of chiding the other doctor.

His cooperative mood seemed to disappear into thin air at that moment, and he stood up suddenly. "I really don't have time for this, Doctor Brennan."

"For what, the truth?" She asked, standing up to face him. "I can't figure out if you came here because you are upset that you lost a patient, or because you think you hurt my feelings. You ask me what I want from you, when you seem to forget that it was you that came here to my office. There has to be more to it, Sweets. There has to be more, because there is always more." She said, keeping her distance, but her voice steady. "The things that we talk about in your office are one thing. Those things can be related to trust, be related to my partnership with Booth and our work together. When you sit with us at the diner, and you continue to push, and prod, and poke at our personal lives? That's nosy. That's invasive, that's rude. I'm not telling you this to throw it in your face, or to treat you like a child, Doctor Sweets. I'm telling you this because you need to see how others see you, the same way you let me know how others see me." She said quickly.

He eyed her warily and continued to stand, knowing that he could walk out if he wanted to. He had known that sitting down in the first place had put him in a position of no return, but still felt that he needed some sense of control.

"I will let you leave, Doctor Sweets, and we can forget this entire conversation happened, but I want you to ask yourself something for me."

"What is that?"

"Why have you lost faith in me?" She asked.

"I haven't lost faith in you, Doctor Brennan."

"No." She replied indignantly. "There has to be a reason for your recent disapproval of me, for your lack of confidence in who I am as a person. What have I done to warrant your disapproval?"

He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at her. He knew that he could leave if he wanted, he could just ignore her question and turn and walk away, but he knew that this wouldn't die. He had done this to himself, he had put himself in this situation, and it was killing him to just stand there and not have a response. "And also…" She said, watching his eyes lift to look into hers. "You need to understand that you can either be my friend, or you can be my doctor. You can't be both, it doesn't work that way, it can't work that way.." She said softly.

She cleared her throat, feeling a bit out of sorts with the conversation that had taken place between herself and the psychologist. There had been a bit of a weight lifted off both of their shoulders, though there was still quite a load they were carrying. "I would like to help you." She said, her eyes honest and clear as she waited for his eyes to meet hers.

He lifted his gaze to hers, and could see the sincerity in her eyes. "Help me?"

"I would like to help you decide where you would like this to go, Doctor Sweets."

"This?" He asked, his eyes showing a sense of naïve confusion.

"We can talk more, Doctor Sweets, but I really should be going right now." She stood up and walked around her desk, grabbing her bag, he watched her shoulder it and nearly ignore him as she looked up at him. "Meet me here in the morning. Six o'clock." She nodded. "We can get started then." She said, walking around the couch. "I need to get over to the diner before all of Booth's fries are gone." She said, adjusting her bag, she turned and walked out of her office quickly, leaving Sweets sitting alone on her couch, contemplating their conversation.


End file.
